Fat Transfer: Q&A

Ask a Question

Is It True That There is a Limit on How Much Fat Can Be Extracted During Fat Grafting?

I recently had fat grafting in my chin and cheeks. The nurse has explained that due to the limitation on how much fat can be extracted at once, there is not enough leftover frozen fat for my secondary fat injection. Is this extraction limitation true? Thanks a lot!

Tags:

Comment on this

13 Doctor Answers | Asked by Kelly4971

Doctor Answers (13)
Community Comments (0)

Limit to fat harvest

As stated by others, the only limit to the amount that can be harvested is your donor supply and he potential for a contour deformity at the donor site if too much is removed.

Sam Naficy, MD

80 reviews

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattleface.com

The limit to fat grafting volume lies in how much extra fat you have.

Fat grafting is limited by the amount of fat that you have in donor sites. Also, frozen fat does not typically survive nearly as well as freshly harvested fat. If your donor sites are over harvested then you could end up with sunken in areas so, yes, there is a limit to how much fat can be harvested and subsequently grafted.

Limits on how much fat can be harvested for facial fat grafting

The main limitation when it comes to harvesting fat is how much fat the donor site has to give. I use hand generated vacuum (ie, very minimal amount of negative pressure) to minimize the potential trauma to the fat cells. Some surgeons to use powered liposuction to perform concurrent body sculpting. In these situations there is a certain amount of fat that can be removed safely. In some situations the main limitation is that the patient is fairly thin and doesn't have all that much... more

Fat Grafting Limitations

There are several limitations in fat grafting. First is the recipient site. There are some areas in which a greater percentage of the fat placed will survive. Most areas, however, require more than one session to achieve optimal fill. The second limitation is the donor site. If you have significant fat available, there is no problem. Some people, however, have very little fat anywhere and require very careful planning to harvest enough fat to fill the area that needs filling. The chin... more

Limits of amount of fat removed for fat grafting

When removing fat in preparation for fat grafting to another body area, the plastic surgeon should take great care to remove fat from the donor site so that there will not be problems, such as dimpling, at the donor site. Generally, fat being removed for fat grafting is removed under much less pressure than traditional liposuction in order to help insure the survival of the fat. The limiting factors for how much fat can be removed include things like how much fat is present in the... more

Fat reinjection

I have had situations with very thin patients where I have had to move to liposuction from the abdomen, thighs (inner and outer), and buttocks before achieving adequate volumes. I don't think you are limited if prepared to move into all these areas. I think it is more likely that the volume was less than anticipated after processing the fat cells. This can occur despite exceptional care. I would get a second opinion to see where you stand today. Thanks for... more

Is It True That There is a Limit on How Much Fat Can Be Extracted During Fat Grafting?

The limitations of fat removal is 5 liters at any one time. Fat transfer is unreliable, IMHO to begin with,. Freezing fat raises the question of how the freezing effects the intact fat cells making the fat even less reliable. You'd do better using a reliable, off the shelf filler like Perlane or Radiesse, for facial shaping and contouring. Be sure the MD, you choose, understands and follows the proper aesthetics of facial beauty for the creation of a... more

Limit on fat harvested for fat transfer

The only real limit on how much fat can be harvested is how much is available. Very thin people can have limited spaces available for harvesting. This is not really the question for most of us. The better question is"can extra fat be frozen to be injected later?" No. There is no good science that suggest it is a good idea. It is uncleart that any of the frozen fat will remain as living cells. We have to be concerned, also, about the... more

Limitations exist in both the areas of harvesting and placing.

Harvesting can be limited by lack of available "good" donor sites. If you are thin with a low bmi there are few areas that will give a good graft. If you try to harvest unsuitable areas, the grafts become very beat up and may have blood included so they will have a very poor result. At the other end, if you overfill the areas, the graft take is very poor and the patients look like a ballon. Storing fat is questionable at several levels. Very poor take... more

Nathan Mayl, MD

7 reviews

Fort Lauderdale Plastic Surgeon

Facial Rejuvenation with micro fat grafting in Los Angeles

Facial fat grafting has revolutionized facial plastic surgery by giving patients a more natural look without needing to give them the "pulled or stretched look". For facial fat grafting to work well the fat cells have to be very fresh and treated delicately and carefully. Freezing fat kills the cells, and therefore, you can not freeze fat cells for later use.

The frozen fat is pretty much worthless.

Freezing kills the fat cells. There are actually fat sculpting methods based on freezing fat. Taking left over fat and storing it in the freezer is a gimmick whether the surgeon realizes it or not. The typical scenario is about 4 months after a fat grating when the swelling is mostly gone, people often feel deflated or even that the fat grafting was unsuccessful. Surgeons in the store fat camp may then recommend a "second" grafting procedure using stored fat... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

8 reviews

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Leftover fat after grafting

Of coarse there is a limit to how much fat can be harvested. Really thin people have much less fat than heavier people. That said, for fat grafting to the face, I can not see how they could possibly reach a "limit" on harvesting. I do not think freezing fat and using it later is a good idea. One of the vexing problems with fat grafting is the take rate of the grafted fat. Up to 50% of grafted fat can die after the procedure. Usually my results... more

Fat Transfer

Fat can not be stored or frozen for a later use as fat graft. The fat has to be aspirated and processed then immediatelt transfered to the areas of choice.